Jury in torture trial watches cellphone video of incident

Man accused of kidnapping, abusing teenager

Warning: This story contains details and descriptions that may be disturbing.

Jurors in the trial of a man accused of torturing a 15-year-old boy watched a 40-minute video Tuesday that prosecutors said showed the boy being tortured.

Before opening statements in the trial of Ismael Bangs, the jury of five men and nine women toured the apartment where prosecutors said the 15-year-old was tortured in July 2011.

The first witness called was the victim's cousin, who said Bangs asked him to get the teenager to come to the apartment on Kimball Street. Earlier in the month, the victim and Bangs had been seen on surveillance video taking clothing from a Macy's in Nashua.

In the disturbing cellphone video taken on the night prosecutors said the boy was tortured, Bangs can be heard calling the teenager a snitch and a rat, saying he needed to be punished for whatever he said to Macy's security.

Hillsborough County Attorney Karen Gorham described the boy's injuries.

"His super-glued lips and his burns on his torso and his burns on his arm," Gorham said.

Prosecutors said the video was recorded on Bangs' iPhone by Yvens Luclaise, who is serving 10 years for his part in the incident.

Jurors were visibly disturbed when they witnessed the teenager being burned on his torso and back with hot, dripping rubber. On the tape, the boy was told to strip naked, and he repeatedly pleads for his assailants to stop. Music is turned up to cover his crying.

The video shows a heated knife being placed numerous times on his shoulders, burning them. Finally, the teen's lips are super-glued together.

The boy's cousin testified he got worried about him and went to get family members, who called 911 after being told the boy wasn't in Bang's apartment.

Prosecutors said that when police arrived, Bangs and Luclaise were found trying to get out the back door.

Police said the boy was found under a bed, naked, trying to scream, but unable to because his lips had been glued together.

Defense attorneys said Bangs, who they said had a bright soccer career ahead of him, was not a bad boy, but rather the video was just a joke that had gone badly.

The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday with prosecutors calling on the medical staff who attended to the victim. The defense plans to call on Bang's family and soccer coach.

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